CRMC 2010 Highlights

What a year! It seemed 2010 brought with it a full spectrum of both challenges and successes. While the entire Community network made some difficult decisions to reduce our expenses, those efforts are paying off. And, we managed to earn impressive accreditations and offer new services and technology, which all work to bring more advanced care to our patients. I’m also awed by the heartwarming stories about patients whose lives have been transformed by their experience here at Community Regional Medical Center. Here are a few 2010 highlights I know you’ll appreciate as much as I do:

A two-year-old, whose spine was snapped after he was hit by a car, not only survived because of the expert Neuroscience team, but now is able to move his arms and legs.

A patient underwent specialized neurosurgery to remove two brain tumors that required her to be awake during the surgery to test her speech and ambulatory abilities. The patient even talked to her mother on her cell phone from the operating room!

The World’s smallest heart pump was used for the first time in the Valley for a 51-year-old patient facing a third risky open heart surgery. Smaller in diameter than a No. 2 pencil, the “Impella” is inserted near the groin via a catheter and aids in surgery by pulling blood out of the heart’s chambers and propelling it to the rest of the body.

Just recently the Cardiac team also installed the Valley’s first portable heart pump for a 53-year-old patient. The device gives new hope for those waiting for heart transplants and allows patients to be active and mobile.

The new Lung Nodule Program expedited diagnosis and treatment for many patients faced with lung cancer offering them a greater likelihood of positive outcomes.

Our trauma team took extra steps to achieve a more rigorous status of American College of Surgeons (ACS) Level 1 verification – a very rigorous process that involves support and input from units throughout the hospital.

Community Regional Medical Center received the Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval™ for care quality in two key programs; Total Joint Replacement and recognition as a Primary Stroke Center. The Primary Stroke Center designation is the first in the Central Valley!

Community Regional captured the state’s attention when we, along with the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, won the California Redevelopment Agency’s Award of Excellence for our 15-year partnership to transform and expand our 58-acre campus – the largest and longest redevelopment project ever undertaken in Fresno County.

And there’s more to look forward to just around the corner as Terry’s House will be open to families of patients at Community Regional Medical Center early January. Employees will have the opportunity to tour the home on January 10.

Also in January, we’ll begin implementation of Epic, our new clinical data management system, first with the Women & Children’s Clinics in the Deran Koligian Ambulatory Care Center. Other clinics will shortly follow and a full implementation at Community Regional and Clovis Community is scheduled for September 2011. The new system will make inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic patient information available in the same database and accessible whenever and wherever the patient needs care – making it easier for clinicians to have access to the right information at the right time.

There also will be aggressive quality initiatives that will take our system to a new level of excellence. Community Regional Medical Center has made great strides over the past several years and received national acclaim for the quality care we provide. But we can’t, and won’t, stop there. More improvement is needed to achieve the kind of greatness that I know we are capable of.

Thank you for all your hard work and incredible accomplishments. I wish you a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.